At Hillside Cemetery in Wilton, it is not only gravestones, but American flags that dominate the landscape.
But the flags placed on the graves of fallen American veterans are new, as they are every Memorial Day.
Former Wilton American Legion Post 86 Commander Bing Ventres makes sure of that. He replaces the flags every year during the week leading up to Memorial Day--at Hillside and four other cemeteries in town.
Ventres, with some help from other veterans at the American Legion post, put the last of the 575 flags in the ground Saturday. The legion pays about $700 for the flags, which stay up year-round.
"It's the least we can do to honor them," said Ventres, 79, who served in the Air Force during the Korean War. "Most people don't realize this is not a day of celebration like Veterans Day. It is a solemn time to commemorate those who defended our great country and are deceased."
As he bent over to place the last of the new flags on a veteran's gravesite at Hillside, Ventres said Wilton's been "doing this for decades, long before it became fashionable" at cemeteries across the country.
Current Wilton American Legion Post 86 Commander Don Hazzard stood beside Ventres, both holding some extra flags. Ventres is also this year's Wilton Memorial Day parade chairman.
"Every year we get calls at the last minute that there's one or two we didn't know about," said Hazzard, a Navy veteran of Vietnam. "Bing keeps a few around just in case."
Hazzard, who is taking part with Ventres in Monday's annual Memorial Day Parade in Wilton, echoed the past commander's message about the meaning of the day.
"Veterans Day is for us ... the living," he said. "Memorial Day is for veterans who have died."
Other Wilton burial grounds where flags are placed include Sharp Hill Cemetery, St. Mathews Cemetery, Zion Hill Cemetery and Bald Hill Cemetery.
Do you have a family member whose gravesite is honored with an American Flag? Leave a comment below.
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